Winter Can Wait: A Novella (Seasons of Summer Novella Series Book 2) Read online

  I pull away. “There’s something else I have to tell you.”

  He closes his eyes as he leans his head against the back of the chair.

  “It’s really not that big of a deal,” I say, trying to assure him.

  “Okay.”

  “Helena invited me over for tea and to see the apartment. I said I would go.” I cringe as I wait for his response.

  He takes a deep breath. “So, does that mean you are taking the job?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know yet. I know it’s an awkward situation, but at the same time, I probably shouldn’t turn away clients. I need to take advantage of all the exposure I can get.”

  He nods his head slowly. “I understand. You know I will support you any way I can.”

  I give him a grateful smile.

  “On another note, have you had any luck in your search for a new place?” he asks, pushing a piece of my hair behind my ear.

  I groan. “No. Your realtor sent me over a bunch of options, but I haven’t had any time to look.”

  He gives me a big smile. “Well, let’s take a look now.”

  Without saying a word, I jump off the couch to fetch my laptop. As we look through the options, he shoots down every single one I suggest.

  “What was wrong with this one?” I ask, pointing at an adorable little Cape Cod floor plan.

  He shrugs his shoulders. “It’s too far away. All of those are all too far away.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “You want me nearby.”

  “Yes,” he whispers. My mind wanders back to what Angie was saying about me moving into Alexander’s house. Which is a crazy idea, right?

  “I think everything around here is much too big, not to mention out of my price range.”

  He gives me a thoughtful look. “Steve will find you something, don’t worry.”

  We enjoy the rest of the evening together with no more mention of Melanie or Helena. I’m not going to lie when I say that for a second I thought he was going to ask me to stay with him. It’s a good thing Angie hasn’t been in his ear yet, because if he was to ask, I don’t know if I would be able to say no.

  ~*~*~

  I have no idea what to wear for “tea.” I know in Europe tea is another meal, but of course I want to look the part. And this isn’t just a normal invitation. This is an invitation to have tea with my boyfriend’s ex-wife in his former apartment. Wow. The more I think about it the more I realize how insane this sounds.

  “I would wear four- or five-inch heels,” Gina says, smacking her gum. “That will show her that she better not mess with you.”

  I start to laugh. “That might work normally but don’t forget that Helena is a gorgeous Swedish model who is easily over six feet tall. She would still tower over me.”

  Gina nonchalantly flips through a People magazine.

  “Maybe I should come along as your assistant?” she adds.

  I shake my head. I can only imagine how that would go. She would probably start asking a million questions and maybe threaten a phone call to someone who has the ability to make people disappear.

  “I appreciate that, but I think I can handle myself.”

  Both Angie and Gina have offered to come along with me. I guess they don’t think I can handle Helena on my own. I was able to handle Helena and Caroline’s best friends forever tag team. If I can handle that, then I can handle anything.

  Thankfully after talking to Alexander, I feel better about everything. I’m confident in my career and even more confident in making our relationship work. I refuse to let anything else stand in our way.

  Chapter Nine

  When I arrive at Helena’s building an older gentleman is there to greet me. I’m not surprised she lives in a building with a doorman. I can totally see this nice doorman carrying in her shopping bags from her daily trips to Saks, Bergdorf’s, and Louis Vuitton. (Of course, I’m totally jealous.)

  “Good morning, madame. And who are you coming to visit today?” he asks, holding the door open for me. He might as well have rolled out a red carpet.

  “Good morning. I’m here to see Helena Williams.”

  He nods. “Ah, yes. Elevators straight back. You have a lovely day.”

  My heart begins to beat faster as I embark on what feels like the longest elevator ride ever. When I step off the elevator and walk toward the apartment, I hear shouting. I stop dead in my tracks and look around. Sure enough, the shouting is coming from Helena’s apartment.

  I double-check my messages to make sure I’m in the right place. I hesitate as I try to decide if I should leave or knock on the door.

  Before I can do anything, the door flies open and a very attractive man rushes past me. He either pretends not to see me or he’s purposely ignoring me. It sounds like he’s mumbling something in French. I stand still, wishing I could find somewhere to hide. There’s a potted plant in the corner but I would look ridiculous trying to hide behind it. A few seconds later, Helena appears in the open doorway. Her eyes grow wide as soon as she sees me.

  “Summer. Please come in,” she says, holding the door open.

  I slowly walk into her gorgeous apartment, and as soon as I’m inside, I notice that her apartment really doesn’t need a decorator, which makes me wonder why I’m here.

  “I apologize for that . . .” she trails off, and then the tears begin to fall down her cheeks.

  Before I know what’s happening, she’s crying hysterically on my shoulder. This has to be the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced. I pat her on the back trying to comfort her, which for me is miserable considering I’m not a very nurturing person. I can’t help but wonder how I got here, sitting in my boyfriend’s old apartment comforting his ex-wife who has had what appears to be a huge argument with her new boyfriend. Angie’s right—how does this stuff always happen to me?

  When Helena finally manages to calm herself, she pulls away and blows her nose loudly into a Kleenex. I have to admit she looks like hell. Well, hell by her standards—which means she still looks stunning. There’s another reason to hate her.

  “Thank you for being such a wonderful friend,” she wails. Friend? “Jacques and I have had a terrible falling out, and I’m afraid things may be over for us.”

  She begins telling me a long story about how she and Jacques were planning a trip to Bora Bora and something about a disagreement over excursions. To be honest, she lost me halfway through her story.

  “I’m sure you two will work things out,” I reply. She immediately shakes her head.

  “I don’t think so,” she says, dabbing the corners of her eyes. “Although we’ve had an exhilarating time together, some things aren’t always meant to be.”

  I shift around awkwardly on the edge of the couch. I still don’t know why I’m here.

  “Oh dear,” she says, practically jumping off the couch. “We were supposed to have a lovely tea together and I’ve been carrying on unmercifully.”

  She runs off and I can hear her banging around in the kitchen. I begin to wander around when something catches my eye on the shelf behind the gorgeous white baby grand piano. I walk over to get a better look, which is when I notice three photographs. The first photo is of her and Alexander on a beach, the next one is them standing under the Eiffel Tower at Christmas time, and the last one is their wedding photo. I’m not so naïve that I don’t think there’s a reason these pictures are still on display. I know they’re still friends, but to have pictures of their life together still lining her shelf?

  “Here we are,” Helena says, startling me.

  I spin around and she’s eyeing me curiously.

  “I was just looking around, you know to get a feel of the space,” I tell her. “Do you have any ideas of what you would like to change because, to be honest, your apartment is already gorgeous?”

  She smiles smugly. “Just a few things here and there. Colors, and maybe some accent pieces.”

  I take out my iPad and make some notes.

  “So, is th
at a yes?”

  What’s that old saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? And for some reason I have a strong feeling that I need to keep Helena close.

  “Yes,” I say, giving her my most sincere smile. “I will draw up a contract later today and send it over to you.”

  She claps and throws her arms around me. When she pulls away, she holds out her hand and gives me a sly smile. “I think this is going to be a great partnership.”

  I take her hand and we shake. In other words . . . game on.

  By the time I get home I’m so tired, both emotionally and physically. I’m convinced that my body does not work right in cold weather. The whole way home my brain is replaying everything that’s happened recently, including the first conversation I had with Caroline, my conversation with Melanie, and Helena and her apparent breakup with the hot French guy Jacques. I still can’t get those photos out of my mind. I think it’s safe to say that the writing is on the wall, maybe Melanie was right.

  I’m not home more than fifteen minutes when there’s a knock at the door. I groan loudly. I have only one guess at who is waiting for me at the door. I could pretend not to be home, but I have no doubt that Mrs. Rothera already knows I’m here. As soon as I open the door, I notice a look of concern on her face. That’s never good.

  “Is everything okay?” she asks.

  I let out a huge sigh, and without saying a word, I open the door wide to let her come in, because honestly, I’m too tired to fight her anymore.

  She closes the door behind her and follows me to the living room where I (overdramatically) fall down on the couch.

  “Do I even need to tell you about my day? Or do you already know?” I say, without looking up.

  She laughs. “Summer, I think you’re confused. I don’t know the details about your day, but I can sense that something is very off.”

  I sit up and look at her. “Just shoot me straight here. Do you think I’m wasting my time with Alexander?”

  She purses her lips but doesn’t respond for a few seconds.

  “I can’t answer that if you don’t tell me what has you so upset,” she says flatly.

  I rub the outside corners of my eyes. “I’m just so confused. Melanie told me that Helena would eventually want to get back together with Alexander. Considering my history with Melanie, I’m not sure I completely trust her. Today I was at Helena’s apartment and she still has photos up from their marriage. Maybe I’m making a big deal out of nothing. I know they’ve remained friends.”

  “Do you believe Melanie is telling you the truth?” she asks me, picking up a copy of Vogue Living magazine.

  I stare at the floor. “Yes and no.”

  She looks up from the magazine and stares at me, although it actually seems like she’s staring through me.

  “I think she thinks there’s always a possibility they could reconcile but right now I’m her biggest obstacle.”

  One corner of her mouth curls up into a half smile. “Well, it seems like you’ve come up with an answer on your own.”

  I let out a huge sigh. It’s obvious she has no intention of helping me through yet another crisis and that’s what I’ve wanted all along. I can’t have it both ways.

  ~*~*~

  “This is why you need me to come to any meeting that involves these women,” Angie shouts. “Why didn’t you ask her about the pictures? I certainly would have.”

  Hah. I know she would have and she would have made a huge scene and there would go all of my potential clients in Manhattan.

  “Yeah, right,” I exclaim. “And if I had drilled her with questions about the pictures, then I would have looked like the insecure girlfriend. No thanks.”

  After a few days, I finally decided to tell Angie about my tea with Helena. I continued to avoid the subject until I knew she wasn’t going to give up. At first, she thought the whole dramatic breakup with Jacques was funny, until I told her about the pictures.

  “Well, just because her new relationship is over doesn’t mean she’s crawling back to Alexander,” I say, trying to convince myself as well.

  “Mmhmm,” she mumbles.

  I roll my eyes.

  “Anyway, the main reason I’m calling is to confirm that you and Brett are coming to the restaurant opening on Valentine’s. I have you down on my guest list.”

  I can’t believe Valentine’s Day is in less than two weeks, with all the drama of my life it totally snuck up on me. Alexander hasn’t mentioned it in a while, which isn’t a big deal being that we already had plans to go to the opening. At the same time, it is the holiday of love and I’m starting to wonder if he has anything special planned in addition to that.

  “Are you kidding me?” Angie exclaims. “Of course we will be there. I’m especially excited to meet all your new friends.”

  I’m expecting a sinister cackle from her at any second. The idea of Angie hanging out with them makes me a little anxious. I can see it now, her meeting Caroline for the first time and warning her to be nice to me or else she will have Gina make a phone call.

  “I’m assuming Helena will be there,” she adds with way too much excitement in her voice.

  “I’m sure she will,” I reply. “And you will be on your best behavior. This is a big night for me. I don’t want to see you being removed by security.”

  She starts to laugh, and I really wish I were only kidding.

  “I take offense to such a suggestion, but I promise I will be on my best behavior, unless of course I need to step in for any reason.”

  I knew there would be some kind of stipulation in there.

  “You will not have to step in,” I assure her. “Let’s just have a fun evening.”

  After I hang up, I smile in spite of the feeling of dread that’s crept up on me. I know Angie means well; her heart is in the right place. I’m just not sure where her brain is sometimes.

  Chapter Ten

  What’s the point of Valentine’s Day really? I’ve personally never been a fan of the day, maybe that’s because I’ve had some pretty bad ones, and I mean some doozies. There was that year that my car died in the middle of the parkway during rush hour. I barely made it off an exit and called my dad crying. Thankfully, he came to pick me up. I guess you could say he was my Valentine that year.

  Of course, last year I was with Jake and he did make it a nice day with the usual roses, dinner, and a gift. That was of course before he turned out to be a complete ass.

  This will be my first Valentine’s Day with Alexander, and I can’t imagine he does it small. We had barely been together a few months at Christmas and he gave me a gorgeous while gold cuff bracelet as well as a stocking full of my favorite candy and a gift card to Nordstrom.

  We’ve barely seen each other in the last several days because of work and I’ve been at the restaurant almost every day making sure the finishing touches are perfect for the opening. I never told him about the photos in Helena’s apartment; in fact, I was very vague about the entire visit. I didn’t even mention the whole Jacques-Helena breakup fiasco. As Angie says, they probably made up later that day anyway when he came crawling back with something like diamond earrings or a pair of Louboutins.

  Speaking of Helena, I sent her a contract and have not heard back from her yet since she told me she would look it over. I can honestly say that I’m not in any kind of rush to start working with her. And maybe she wasn’t expecting me to say yes so she’s trying to figure a way out of it. One can only hope.

  Oh well, I’m not going to think about that because tonight I’m looking forward to spending the evening with Alexander. I have to admit the only good thing about not seeing him is not seeing Melanie.

  “I’ve missed you,” he says, taking my face in his hands and kissing me.

  When he finally pulls away (and when I catch my breath), I tell him I’ve missed him too.

  “Are you ready for the big night?” he asks excitedly. “Nick says it’s going to be a blast.”

  I gr
in. “Yes, as long as Angie’s on her best behavior.”

  He cocks his head to the side. “And why wouldn’t she be?”

  I hesitate. “Do you really want to know?”

  He furrows his brow. “I don’t know, should I?”

  Hmmm . . . how do I tell him that Angie might take it upon herself to be the protective best friend and give Caroline a warning?

  “You know . . . with the whole Caroline-Helena situation.”